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Thursday, August 09, 2018

The ComicBook news site upholds the Muslim Ms. Marvel in all its propaganda

ComicBook posted a puff piece lauding the Muslim Ms. Marvel as the "most important creation of the 21st century", and not any of the indie projects there could be out there with far better ideas and material. It says, for example:

Marvel Comics played an important role in popular culture during the 20th Century. Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, and their cohort of collaborators reinvented the superhero genre as we know it and played into a rising wave of interest among college students and young adults. They created characters who lasted through the end of that era, and spin into television shows and movies. However, no one could have foreseen the cultural juggernaut that it would become after the year 2000. There is no larger franchise in Hollywood today than Marvel Studios, and many of their characters have become even more popular symbols for movements and identification. Marvel Comics continues to have an outsized impact on culture and society through its heroic characters. That’s why it’s no small assertion to state the following: Ms. Marvel is the most important Marvel Comics creation of the 21st Century.

Kamala Khan was created by writer and artist duo G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona, respectively, along with Marvel editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker. She made her first appearance in 2013 in the pages of Captain Marvel #14 as one of a number of civilians inspired by the titular hero Carol Danvers. Her adventure as Ms. Marvel didn’t begin until the launch of her solo title Ms. Marvel, which recently arrived at its 50th issue. Looking back on the past five years of comics, crossovers, and adaptations, it’s clear that Kamala Khan is an essential part of Marvel Comics now and for the rest of the century to come.

The only reason she's "essential" is because of the political motivations behind the character's creation, and the troubling notion that if a character's developed as a Muslim, it literally makes it mandatory to keep them around in some way or other till the end of time, and not just drop them quietly from the proceedings. It's the same situation over at DC, as they've been forcing the Muslim Green Lantern Simon Baz down everyone's throats, and in his 2012 debut, it was quite offensive, as was Christopher Priest's rendition in Justice League. Of all the reprehensible activities Geoff Johns pulled when he was a leading writer at DC, that was by far the worst from a political perspective. The continued use of the Islamic characters, along with some of the diversity-pandering ones, isn't based on merit of writing, but on the political motivations behind their creation, which has the effect of degrading the characters they came up with.

Ms. Marvel represents a broader trend of invention and innovation at Marvel Comics from the past decade. Following the boom and bust cycle of the 1990s, the publisher had focused on core titles and characters during the early 2000s. Some significant rebranding was done under the Marvel Knights line, with new stories and creators reinventing core characters. However, all of these characters were classic figures, like Daredevil and The Punisher. When Ms. Marvel broke out she was one of a number of new characters targeted at readers beyond the stalwart comic book fans who helped Marvel Comics and the direct market survive the recent collapse.

New heroes, like Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, and Silk, captured young adult readers by building on the legacy of a classic concept, like Spider-Man. They brought the new readers in with adolescent characters who reflected modern America and provided key connections to the core mythos of Marvel Comics, also allowing older readers to enjoy their adventures as they were integrated into events and crossovers. This interest in reinvention crossed over with existing, dormant properties as well. Squirrel Girl provides the best example, having been created in 1991 by Steve Ditko and Will Murray. She was updated for a new group of readers and offered a fun tone of discovery. This wave of growth and creation is symbolically led by Ms. Marvel. She is the character who has seen the most success and who served as a vanguard for many of these introductions and reintroductions to the core line of Marvel Comics. Her presence cannot be overstated as part of the publisher’s willingness to improve itself and update an aging collection of properties.

It doesn't take a genius to guess they consider all that hard work by Lee/Kirby worthless by today's standards. If they really wanted to improve themselves, they'd avoid all the deliberate, heavy-handed leftist politics they shoved into their products, and wouldn't water down the quality of their artwork so badly, or suppress women's sexuality, which is a sexist thing to do in itself. If there's any jarring violence and gore in the current output, that too is another minus.

They predictably ignore that in actuality, the SJW-catering projects were failures, including the Iceman-as-gay book, and the only reason the Muslim Ms. Marvel book has continued thus far despite its abysmal sales numbers of 20,000 or less, is because of the cowardice involving the politics, which C.B. Cebulski seems to think must be given publishing space no matter how much money it loses. And speaking of sales, they provide no figures to back up their claim younger audiences are flocking to buy them out. Man, what a sham they're pulling here.

Also, the part about company wide crossovers should raise eyebrows - why should anybody want to find themselves in a position where they think they'll have to buy tons more books to get the whole story? How does that even serve as innovative?

And "reinvention" under the Marvel Knights label didn't work well either, if we take the Captain America series published under the banner as an example. It turned out to be blame-America propaganda made worse by how it was padded for trades, much like a lot of the other books coming out at the time when Joe Quesada got his foot in the door. Jon Ney Reiber may have said his scripts were tampered with, and in hindsight, I can probably believe that, seeing how much damage Quesada caused when he was the EIC.

One essential element of this new wave of Marvel heroes is the diversity they introduced to the lineup at Marvel Comics. The great creators who invented the foundation of Marvel Comics were primarily white men, many of them from Jewish descent. That was reflected in the heroes from their time, and those heroes went on to inspire entire generations of readers from all backgrounds. Yet the lack of diversity within the line remained apparent, especially as demographic trends in America continued to change the face of society—not to mention that America has always been evenly split between women. Ms. Marvel represents a trend to make the superheroes we love and celebrate a democratic representation of those they protect and serve.

Kamala Khan represents many firsts and shifts within the lineup of superheroes with solo titles. She is a woman; she is a Muslim American; she is of Pakistani descent. She is also a teenager with superpowers balancing school, family, and extracurricular activities. Ms. Marvel is following in the colorful boots of Spider-Man and other iconic teen superheroes, delivering metaphors for big changes in life and relatable stories of early romance and school troubles. It allows the series to tell a very specific story that opens the door to many readers that Marvel Comics had not previously reflected while still engaging with an entire generation. This element of her character is undeniably important to so many new comics fans in the 21st Century.

Yup, as expected, they won't acknowledge how quite a few of these "diverse" characters came at the expense of the white heroes, shoved very noticeably into their established roles instead of being given their own roles and costumes. And what personalities do they even have? From the material I've checked here and there, they don't seem to be given very inspiring writing. Also, what's so "democratic" about a premise emphasizing a totalitarian religion?

She's not even the first character in the MCU with Islam as a background. In the early 80s, in the pages of the Incredible Hulk, Bill Mantlo conceived the Arabian Knight, whose character was even a polygamist with 3 wives (and it goes without saying I found the sight of Abdul Qamar's wives wearing niqabs, while he goes barechested as he acquires the sword that provides him with the power to take up the role, truly disgusting). And Grant Morrison, who may soon be getting an assignment writing Green Lantern, conceived another Muslim character in X-Men named Dust (and I'm not happy to say, but Ethan Van Sciver was the artist).

The claim the directions maintained by the white Jewish founders lacked diversity is also a lie, as black/Asian/mixed-race characters were introduced for superhero roles starting in the late 60s, with Black Panther a prominent example, and becoming more prominent as we moved on to the Bronze Age, with Luke Cage serving as another famous example. Why, let's also consider Monica Rambeau, who became a much better conceived character to take the role of Captain Marvel left behind by Mar-Vell of the Kree when he passed away in 1982. Civilian characters in supporting roles like Robbie Robertson from Spider-Man should also count. The writer of the puffy piece may not think so, but he's insulting the memory of the white Jewish creators like Kirby with his ambiguous, misleading propaganda by claiming diversity was lacking, when it wasn't.

That sort of representation is also part of what is boosting the entire genre of superhero comics today. In the wake of the 1990s it was clear that a collectors market and aging long term fanbase could not support the incredible market gains made, which led to a collapse putting many stores out of business and many people out of jobs. The remaining readership provided a market on which comics could subsist, but never thrive. Ms. Marvel is a true all-ages endeavor. From the very first issue to its fiftieth anniversary this week, every new installment has been a delightful blend of action, drama, and laughs. It is consistently one of the very best superhero comics on the market every year, and capable of sustaining an all ages readership.

Middle school girls and boys find it a great entry point into superhero comics, while fans of classic Spider-Man find an updated version of their favorite teenage superhero tropes. It is written in a way that every level of maturity can find some element appealing. This was what made the earliest inventions of Marvel Comics in the 1960s so appealing. Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man were being taken home by kids in school, college students, and often being secretly read by both of their parents when abandoned in a living room.

Uhh, but the collector's market is still quite prevalent today, if we take the overload of variant covers as an example, and, stores are still going out of business as seen the past year, due to the fact these SJW-pandering tales are marketed on diversity/ultra-leftist politics, not story and art merit. What's more, a book whitewashing a horrific religion cannot be called an all-ages endeavor, and there's no proof all those schoolkids are reading it in droves.

Great superheroes present stories capable of inspiring us all. They display essential values in a mode of high drama, reminding us to treat every person well and fight for one another before ourselves. This is the essence of Ms. Marvel. She is the best representation of the superhero genre in comics today, and undoubtedly the most important creation at Marvel Comics this century.

Sorry, but when you're dishonest about a religion that's violent to women and Jews, among others, that's not inspiring, and doesn't remind us to treat every person well at all. It goes without saying several of Marvel's own writers certainly didn't. I've got a feeling if a character of Armenian descent had been introduced to the MCU, whether as a superhero or a supporting character, they wouldn't even give it a glance for consideration. The only reason they consider the Khan character worthy of notice is for political reasons. And their insistence on embracing Islam is insulting to the very Jewish creators whose works the modern publishers in charge of Marvel/DC have hijacked. They have no business commenting on comics if this is what they consider "entertainment".